Preamble

The House being met at half-past Two o'clock, and MADAM SPEAKER-ELECT having taken the Chair;

Message to attend the Lords Commissioners;

The House went; and, having returned—

Election of Speaker

Madam Speaker: I have to report to the House that, in the House of Peers, Her Majesty, by Her Royal Commissioners, has been pleased to approve the choice made of myself for the Office of Speaker, and that I have, in your name and on your behalf, made claim by humble petition to Her Majesty to all your ancient and undoubted rights and privileges, particularly to freedom of speech in debate, freedom from arrest and freedom of access to Her Majesty whenever occasion may require, and that the most favourable construction may be placed upon all your proceedings. All these Her Majesty, by Her Commissioners, has been pleased to confirm in as ample a manner as they have ever been granted or confirmed by herself or by any of Her Royal Predecessors.
My first duty to the House is to report my respectful acknowledgments and my grateful thanks for the great honour you have conferred upon me in placing me in the Chair.

Members Sworn

Madam Speaker: I must now call upon the Members of the House, according to the usual custom, to take the Oath of Allegiance at the Table of the House, but first I must do so myself.
Thereupon MADAM SPEAKER first, alone, standing upon the upper step of the Chair, took and subscribed the Oath.

Madam Speaker: Before Members proceed to the taking of the Oath, I regret to have to report to the House the death of Sir Michael Shersby, Member for Uxbridge. I am sure that hon. Members on both sides of the House will join me in mourning the loss of a colleague and extending sympathy to the hon. Member's family and his friends.
It may be for the convenience of the House if I indicate my intentions with regard to the taking of the Oath by right hon and hon. Members. I propose to call, first, the Father of the House; then the Cabinet; then the shadow Cabinet; then all the Privy Councillors not included in those two groups, wherever they may be sitting, and then other Ministers. Thereafter I shall call other hon. Members according to seniority determined by the basis of seniority, that is by the Parliament of first entry or, for those with broken service, that of most recent entry.
The first batch will be those elected in or before 1974. Thereafter I shall proceed by successive Parliaments. I hope by late this afternoon to have made sufficient progress to enable all Members to swear in who wish to do so up to and including those elected to the 1992 Parliament. The House will sit again tomorrow at 9.30, when I shall call those Members first elected to the current Parliament as well as Members elected to earlier Parliaments who were not able to take the Oath today.
Finally, the House will meet again next Tuesday at 2.30 to enable Members to take the Oath who have not done so this week.
I hope that this announcement will be helpful to Members in planning their programmes. Progress will depend, of course, on the number of Members wishing to take the Oath at any particular time. I advise Members to watch the annunciators to establish progress and to speak to their Whips. I hope also that Members will come forward in an orderly manner. Let us now begin.

The following Members took and subscribed the Oath, or made and subscribed the Affirmation required by law:

Right honourable Sir Edward Richard George Heath, KG, MBE, Old Bexley and Sidcup

Right honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, Sedgefield

Right honourable John Major, Huntingdon

Right honourable John Leslie Prescott, Kingston upon Hull, East

Right honourable Winifred Ann, Mrs. Taylor, Dewsbury Right honourable Robert Finlayson Cook, Livingston

Right honourable James Gordon Brown, Dunfermline, East

Right honourable John Whitaker Straw, Blackburn

Right honourable Margaret Mary, Mrs. Beckett, Derby, South

Right honourable Gavin Steel Strang, Edinburgh, East and Musselburgh

Right honourable David George Clark, South Shields

Right honourable Marjorie Mowlam, Redcar

Right honourable George Islay MacNeill Robertson, Hamilton, South

Right honourable Alistair Maclean Darling, Edinburgh, Central

Right honourable Ronald Davies, Caerphilly

Right honourable John Anderson Cunningham, Copeland

Right honourable Frank Gordon Dobson, Holborn and St. Pancras

Right honourable Clare Short, Birmingham, Ladywood

Right honourable David Blunkett, Sheffield, Brightside

Right honourable Harriet Ruth Harman, Camberwell and Peckham

Right honourable Christopher Robert Smith, Islington, South and Finsbury

Right honourable Donald Campbell Dewar, Glasgow, Anniesland

Right honourable Kenneth Harry Clarke QC, Rushcliffe

Right honourable Nicholas Hugh Brown, Newcastle upon Tyne, East and Wallsend

Right honourable Brian Stanley Mawhinney, North-West Cambridgeshire

Right honourable Michael Howard QC, Folkestone and Hythe

Right honourable Alistair Robertson Goodlad, Eddisbury

Right honourable Douglas Martin Hogg QC, Sleaford and North Hykeham

Right honourable Gillian Patricia, Mrs. Shephard, South-West Norfolk

Right honourable Peter Bruce Lilley, Hitchen and Harpenden

Right honourable William Jefferson Hague, Richmond, Yorks

Right honourable Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Yeovil

Right honourable Alan James Beith, Berwick-upon-Tweed

Right honourable Gerald Bernard Kaufman, Manchester, Gorton

Right honourable Robert Edward Sheldon, Ashton under Lyne

Right honourable Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn, Chesterfield

Right honourable Alan John Williams, Swansea, West

Right honourable Sir Peter Frank Hannibal Emery, East Devon

Right honourable Sir Peter Robert Cable Lloyd, Fareham

Right honourable David John Maclean, Penrith and The Border

Right honourable David Maurice Curry, Skipton and Ripon

Right honourable David Michael Davis, Haltemprice and Howden

Right honourable Eric Forth, Bromley and Chislhurst

Right honourable John David Taylor, Strangford

Right honourable John Michael Jack, Fylde

Right honourable Michael Ancram, Devizes

Francis Anthony Aylmer Maude, esquire, Horsham

Right honourable Ann Noreen Widdecombe, Maidstone and The Weald

Right honourable Peter Leonard Brooke CH, Cities of London and Westminster

Right honourable Sir John Paul Stanley, Tonbridge and Malling

Reverend Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Norh Antrim

Dafydd Wigley, esquire, Caernarfon

Margaret Anne, Mrs. Ewing, Moray

Winston James Griffiths, esquire, Bridgend

Samuel Laird Gallbraith, esquire, Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Peter Kilfoyle, esquire, Liverpool, Walton

Walton John Hume, esquire, Foyle

John McFall, esquire, Dumbarton

Jonathan Owen Jones, esquire, Cardiff, Central

Peter Gerald Hain, esquire, Neath

George Foulkes, esquire, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley

James Patrick Dowd, esquire, Lewisham, West

Jane Elizabeth, Mrs. Kennedy, Liverpool, Wavertree

Gregory James Pope, esquire, Hyndburn

Bridget Theresa, Mrs. Prentice, Lewisham, East

Kim Scott Howells, esquire, Pontypridd

Right honourable Thomas Jeremy King CH, Bridgwater

Graham William Allen, esquire, Nottingham, North

Keith John Charles Bradley, esquire, Manchester, Withington

Robert William Ainsworth, esquire, Coventry, North-East

Sir Peter Hannay Bailey Tapsell, Louth and Horncastle

Robert Adam Ross Maclennan, esquire, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross

Alan Thomas Howarth, esquire, CBE, Newport, East Paul Yaw Boateng, esquire, Brent, South

Malcolm George Richardson Chisholm, esquire, Edinburgh, North and Leith

Geoffrey William Hoon, esquire, Ashfield

Kevin Michael Hughes, esquire, Doncaster, North

John Francis Spellar, esquire, Warley

Anthony Worthington, esquire, Clydebank and Milngavie

Estelle Morris, Birmingham, Yardley

Thomas McLaughlin McAvoy, esquire, Glasgow, Rutherglen

Clive James Charles Betts, esquire, Sheffield, Attercliffe

Elliot Anthony Morley, esquire, Scunthorpe

Sir Richard Bernard Frank Stewart Body, Boston and Skegness

Stephen Barry Jones, esquire, Alyn and Deeside

Dennis Edward Skinner, esquire, Bolsover

Thomas Michael Cox, esquire, Tooting

Sir William David Madel, South-West Bedfordshire

Sir Patrick Thomas Cormack, South Staffordshire

Nicholas Raymond Winterton, esquire, Macclesfield

Roger Stott, esquire, CBE, Wigan

Sir William Michael Hardy Spicer, West Worcestershire

Bruce Thomas George, esquire, Walsall, South

Andrew Francis Bennett, esquire, Denton and Reddish

Dennis Andrew Canavan, esquire, Falkirk, West

William Ross, esquire, East Londonderry

Right honourable Sir Geoffrey Johnson-Smith, Wealden

Sir Raymond William Whitney OBE, Wycombe

John David Home Robertson, esquire, East Lothian

Brian Charles Sedgemore, esquire, Hackney, South and Shoreditch

Sir Alan Gordon Barraclough Haselhurst, Saffron Walden

Richard Lewis Page, esquire, South-West Hertfordshire

Giles Heneage Radice, esquire, North Durham

Dale Norman Campbell-Savours, esquire, Workington

David Marshall, esquire, Glasgow, Shettleston

Ernest Ross, esquire. Dundee, West

John Alston Maxton, esquire, Glasgow, Cathcart

Lawrence Francis Cunliffe, esquire, Leigh

Sir Sydney Brookes Chapman, Chipping Barnet

Martin John O'Neill, esquire, Ochil

Sir Raymond Powell, Ogmore

Andrew Welsh, esquire, Angus

David Julian Winnick, esquire, Walsall, North

Michael John Martin, esquire, Glasgow, Springburn

Sir Edward Macmillan Taylor, Rochford and Southend, East

Michael Keith Beale Colvin, esquire. Romsey

James Marshall, esquire, Leicester, South

Clive Stafford Soley, esquire, Ealing. Acton and Shepherds Bush

Richard Charles Scrimgeour Shepherd, esquire, Aldridge-Brownhills

John Arbuthnot Du Cane Wilkinson, esquire, Ruislip-Northwood

John David McWilliam, esquire, Blaydon

Frank Field, esquire, Birkenhead

Reverend William Martin Smyth, Belfast, South

Right honourable Stephen James Dorrell, Charnwood

Marion Audrey, Mrs. Roe, Broxbourne

Archibald Johnstone Kirkwood, esquire, Roxburgh and Berwickshire

Simon Robert Key, esquire, Salisbury

Roger James Gale, esquire, North Thanet

Charles Frederick Wardle, esquire, Bexhill and Battle

Jane Ann, Mrs. Winterton, Congleton

Clifford Forsythe, esquire, South Antrim

Alfred Cecil Walker, esquire, Belfast, North

William Michie. esquire, Sheffield, Heeley

Roy Beggs, esquire, East Antrim

Andrew James MacKay, esquire, Bracknell

John Valentine Butterfill, esquire, Bournemouth, West

Francis Cook, esquire, Stockton, North

Norman Anthony Godman, esquire, Greenock and Inverclyde

John Mark Taylor, esquire, Solihull

Michael Nicholson Lord, esquire, Central Suffolk and North Ipswich

Peter Leslie Pike, esquire, Burnley

James Robert Wallace, esquire, Orkney and Shetland

Charles Peter Kennedy, esquire, Ross, Skye and Inverness, West

Robert Nelson Wareing, esquire, Liverpool, West Derby

Terence Anthony Gordon Davis, esquire, Birmingham, Hodge Hill

Robin Corbett, esquire, Birmingham, Erdington

Malcolm Gray Bruce, esquire, Gordon

Ann Clwyd, Cynon Valley

William O'Brien, esquire, Normanton

Patrick Allen McLoughlin, esquire, West Derbyshire

Andrew Robert Frederick Hunter, esquire, Basingstoke

Robert Victor Jackson, esquire, Wantage

David Martin Hinchliffe, esquire, Wakefield

Audrey, Mrs. Wise, Preston

Alice, Mrs. Mahon, Halifax

Maria, Mrs. Fyfe, Glasgow, Maryhill

Simon Henry Ward Hughes, esquire, North Southwark and Bermondsey

Eric Evelyn Illsley, esquire, Barnsley, Central

Harold Barnes, esquire, North-East Derbyshire

John Scott Cummings, esquire, Easington

Ronald Campbell, esquire, Blyth Valley

Donald Anderson, esquire, Swansea, East

Gerald Neil Steinberg, esquire, City of Durham

Timothy Eric Boswell, esquire, Daventry

Simon Hugh McGuigan Burns, esquire, Chelmsford

Patrick Charles Martyn Nicholls, esquire, Teignbridge

James Douglas Cran, esquire, Beverley and Holderness

Christopher John Fred Gill. RD, esquire, Ludlow

John McAllion, esquire, Dundee, East

James Hood, esquire, Clydesdale

Matthew Owen John Taylor, esquire, Truro and St. Austell

Ieuan Wyn Jones, esquire, Ynys Môn

Bernard Alexander Montgomery Grant, esquire, Tottenham

Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond, esquire, Banff and Buchan

James Wray, esquire, Glasgow, Baillieston

David Arthur Stephen Tredinnick, esquire, Bosworth

Joan Mary, Mrs. Ruddock, Lewisham, Deptford

Frank Doran, esquire, Aberdeen, Central

Christopher John Mullin, esquire, Sunderland, South

Eric Anthony Martlew, esquire, Carlisle

James Norwich Arbuthnot, esquire, North-East Hampshire

Ian Cameron Bruce, esquire, South Dorset

Janet Ray, Mrs. Michie, Argyll and Bute

Stephen Richard Day, esquire, Cheadle

Catherine Letitia Hoey, Vauxhall

William David Trimble, esquire, Upper Bann

Right honourable Sir Archibald Gavin Hamilton, Epsom and Ewell

Paul Phillip Flynn, esquire, Newport, West

William John Olner, esquire, Nuneaton

James Dolan Cunningham, esquire, Coventry, South

Piara Singh Khabra, esquire, Ealing, Southall

David George Hanson, esquire, Delyn

Edward Henry Gamier, esquire, Harborough

Andrew Peter Miller, esquire, Ellesmere Port and Neston

Rachel Anne Squire, Dunfermline, West

Malcolm Douglas Moss, esquire, North-East Cambridgeshire

Gary Nicholas Streeter, esquire, South-West Devon

Jean Ann Corston, Bristol, East

George William Stevenson, esquire, Stoke-on-Trent, South

William James Clappison, esquire, Hertsmere

Nicholas Richard Ainger, esquire, Carmarthen, West and South Pembrokeshire

Oliver Heald, esquire, North-East Hertfordshire

Adam Paterson Ingram, esquire, East Kilbride

Martyn David Jones, esquire, Clwyd, South

Michael Clapham, esquire, Barnsley, West and Penistone

Jeff Ennis, esquire, Barnsley, East and Mexborough

Angela Frances, Mrs. Browning, Tiverton and Honiton

Peter Landreth Atkinson, esquire, Hexham

Katherine, Mrs. Adams, Paisley, North

Roger Duncan Godsiff, esquire, Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath

Lynne Mary Jones, Birmingham, Selly Oak

Neil Francis Gerrard, esquire, Walthamstow

Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz, esquire, Leicester, East

Margaret Eve, Mrs. Hodge MBE, Barking

Thomas Pendry, esquire, Stalybridge and Hyde

John Marek, esquire, Wrexham

Bruce Joseph Grocott. esquire, Telford

John Matthew Patrick Hutton, esquire, Barrow and Furness

Donald Michael Ellison Foster, esquire, Bath

Helen Margaret, Mrs. Jackson, Sheffield, Hillsborough

David William George Chidgey, esquire, Eastleigh

Michael St. John Trend, esquire, Windsor

James Keith Chapman, esquire, Wirral, South

Huw William Edmund Edwards, esquire, Monmouth

William John Gunnell, esquire, Morley and Rothwell

James Donnelly Touhig, esquire, Islwyn

Hugh Bayley, esquire, City of York

George lain Duncan Smith, esquire, Chingford and Woodford Green

Nicholas John Hawkins, esquire, Surrey Heath

Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Dulwich and West Norwood

Joyce Gwendolen Quin, Gateshead, East and Washington, West

Alan Milburn, esquire, Darlington

William Etherington, esquire, Sunderland, North

Gwyneth Patricia, Mrs. Dunwoody, Crewe and Nantwich

Brian David Henderson Wilson, esquire, Cunninghame, North

Cheryl Elise Kendall, Mrs. Gillan, Chesham and Amersham

John Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale, esquire, OBE, Maldon and East Chelmsford

Geoffrey Robert Clifton Brown, esquire, Cotswold

Roseanna Cunningham, Perth

Peter James Bottomley, esquire, Worthing, West

Gerry Sutcliffe, esquire, Bradford, South

Richard Haines Burden, esquire, Birmingham, Northfield

Joan Lorraine Walley, Stoke-on-Trent, North

Ian Phares Pearson, esquire, Dudley, South

James Edward Thornton Paice, esquire, South-East Cambridgeshire

Denis MacShane, esquire, Rotherham

Michael Connarty, esquire, Falkirk, East

Richard Spring, esquire, West Suffolk

John Heppell, esquire, Nottingham, East

Michael Louis David Fabricant, esquire, Lichfield

David Digby Rendel, esquire, Newbury

Jon Hedley Trickett, esquire, Hemsworth

Simon Patrick Tipping, esquire, Sherwood

Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames, esquire, Mid Sussex

Bernard Christison Jenkin, esquire, North Essex

Dr. Anthony Wayland Wright, Cannock Chase

Gordon Prentice, esquire, Pendle

Anne Caroline Ballingall McIntosh, Vale of York

Christopher James Fraser, esquire, Mid Dorset and North Poole

Keith Robert Simpson, esquire, Mid Norfolk

Julian Murray Lewis, esquire, New Forest, East

Owen William Paterson, esquire, North Shropshire

Howard Emerson Flight, esquire, Arundel and South Downs

Barbara Maureen, Mrs. Roche, Hornsey and Wood Green

Laurence Anthony Robertson, esquire, Tewkesbury

Right honourable Sir George Samuel Knatchbull Young, North-West Hampshire

Robert Andrew Raymond Syms, esquire, Poole

Anthony Colman, esquire, Putney

Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw, esquire, Exeter

Fraser Kemp, esquire, Houghton and Washington, East

Ian Arthur Cawsey, esquire, Brigg and Goole

Rudolf Jan Vis, esquire, Finchley and Golders Green

Andrew David Lansley, esquire, South Cambridgeshire

Michael Thomas Hancock, esquire, Portsmouth, South

Richard Arthur Lloyd Livsey, esquire, Brecon and Radnorshire

Lembit Opik, esquire, Montgomeryshire

Jennifer Louise Tonge, Richmond Park

Edward Jonathon Davey, esquire, Kingston and Surbiton

Paul Kenneth Burstow, esquire, Sutton and Cheam

Denis Murphy, esquire, Wansbeck

Julian William Hendy Brazier, esquire, TD, Canterbury

Paul Archer Tyler, esquire, CBE, North Cornwall

Malcolm Hunt Wicks, esquire, Croydon, North

Desmond Stanley Turner, esquire, Brighton, Kemptown

Peter Michael Ainsworth, esquire, East Surrey

Christine Margaret Butler, Castle Point

Helen Mary Jones, Warrington, North

Jovanka Humble, Blackpool, North and Fleetwood

Andrew Hartley Dismore, esquire, Hendon

Anthony James McNulty, esquire, Harrow, East

James Fitzpatrick, esquire, Poplar and Canning Town

Llewellyn Thomas Smith, esquire, Blaenau Gwent

Clare Judith Mallaber, Amber Valley

Linda Gilroy, Plymouth, Sutton

Christine Margaret Russell, City of Chester

Jennifer Grace Jones, Wolverhampton, South-West

Right honourable John Roddick Russell MacGregor OBE, South Norfolk

Roger Leslie Berry, esquire, Kingswood

Jeffrey Mark Donaldson, esquire, Lagan Valley

John Martin McDonnell, esquire, Hayes and Harlington

Gareth Richard Thomas, esquire, Harrow, West

Mark Wainwright Todd, esquire, South Derbyshire

Ann Lloyd Keen, Brentford and Isleworth

Colin Burgon, esquire, Elmet

David Anthony Lock, esquire, Wyre Forest

John Cradock Maples, esquire, Stratford-on-Avon

Eleanor Fulton Laing, Epping Forest

Andrew Stunell, esquire, Hazel Grove

Melanie Jane Johnson, Welyn Hatfield

Phyllis Margaret Starkey, Milton Keynes, South-West

Jacqueline Jill Smith, Redditch

Paul Stuart Keetch, esquire, Hereford

William John Thompson, esquire, West Tyrone

Thomas Hilton Dawson, esquire, Lancaster and Wyre

Ann Coffey, Stockport

Ian Graham Davidson, esquire, Glasgow, Pollok

Anne Campbell, Cambridge

Harold Best, esquire, Leeds, North-West

Anthony Richard Clark, esquire, Northampton, South

Stephen Creswell Timms, esquire, East Ham

Donald Cameron Easterbrook Gorrie, esquire, Edinburgh, West

Paul Gerard Goggins, esquire, Wythenshawe and Sale, East

Hazel Anne Blears, Salford

Stephen Pelham Pound, esquire, Ealing, North

ADJOURNMENT

Resolved, That this House do now adjourn until tomorrow at half-past Nine o'clock.—[Mr. Betts.]

Adjourned accordingly at three minutes to Five o'clock.